Dark Places
by Invisiblespace
Summary: Set in the Harry Potter universe, a new story begins... United states, 2019. Atticus North, a newly appointed Auror, is assigned by MACUSA to investigate rumors of a cult after a young girl's body is recovered, on recommendation from his superior. Yet the horrors he discovers are more than he could ever have prepared for.


_Mom, _

_Dad, _

_Sis, _

_Forgive me. _

_Forgive me, for leaving you behind. _

The witch ran, till her feet now cut and worn, left bloody prints in the earth, to which then she ran even faster. None of the pain from such an act mattered. Fear was driving her along, pushing her to get to safety. Even if it meant hiding in a truck stop bathroom, or an abandoned store. Anything to get some distance. The shouting from behind had since faded, or maybe she just couldn't hear it any longer with the blood pumping in her ears.

_Don't stop for anything. _She thought briskly, as a flash of green came careening from behind, hitting the tree beside her, blasting a large violent hole through its trunk, splinters of wood jutting out like road was just ahead, the moon shining its light on the pavement as if presenting it as a gift for her perseverance.

_I'll make it. _

_I'll make it! _

_Almost there! _

A new green flash from behind, several now joining in, four in total, flew through the maze of trees. Wounded flesh crashed onto the cool road. It felt so good despite the pain snaking its way up her legs with every step.

She did not make it.

_MACUSA HQ_

2019

No matter what he tried, Atticus Mills couldn't stop shaking. No pitching of his cheek or slap to the face worked. It wasn't nerves or some irritating itch, but an unwavering sense of unease. The whole affair felt incredibly wrong to him, or perhaps it was the unyielding silence permeating the air.

_Maybe I'm not cut out for this. _He quipped to himself. He was a desk jockey, usually flooded with stacks upon stakes of paperwork on a regular basis, and damn good at his job too. So how he was now on some country road, the portkey his boss handed him still clenched tightly in his left hand, he couldn't quite fathom.

"A witches body was found two days ago. Coroner's office has the Jane doe's body as of now." his boss, Mavis, had told him, putting the file pertaining to the unfortunate discovery onto his already messy desk. Atticus put away what he was currently working on, placing a few papers in the intrinsically organized file cabinet beside him. He could have just used his wand to do it, but it was a practice that he privately considered to be lazy. At least if he needed to rush he'd know exactly where everything was without having to think about it. File in hand now, he started going over the report that greeted him first.

"Same stretch of forest as last time I see."

The area she'd been found in was link to the recent reports of a suspected cult in the area. MACUSA had known of this problem for some time, except with no confirmation on who the members were, nor what their end goal was, it led to the investigation going cold. Most of the ministry was too busy dealing with what they considered to be more important business to devote anyone to the case.

Atticus had hoped that it had all been a bunch of rumors, or maybe just some drugged up no-mags' hanging out in the woods. But now with a body on sight, that tore the case fresh open for much more sinister suspensions.

"Yes. Thankfully she was found by one of our scouts first instead of a no-maj. The last thing I want is to obliviate some morning joggers memory again."

He flipped through a few pages before resting on photographs of the crime scene tucked neatly at the very back. She was lying partially in the road, face down, her toes just barely touching the pavement. Her bare feet were torn up horribly, cut bloody and raw.

The poor girl was only eleven years old. One more year older and she would have been safe, studying in Ilvermorny as a first year. Preventable deaths like this always made the auror's heart sink.

"Do we know who she is? A young witch like this has to have a family."

Mavis shook her head sadly, "Whoever they are, they haven't stepped forward to identify the body. I'm going to be contacting Ilvermorny after my next meeting, they should have her name on file for next year's students. If we go by process of elimination we can give our girl a name."

Atticus cleared his desk to let the files contents take center stage. He then grabbed his black notebook and a quill from his desk drawer and started taking personal notes of what they knew so far of the general situation.

"We're also working on sending someone out to the area. With a body, people are going to want answers, and soon."

"Who are you sending out? Mark seems like a good fit. Or maybe Zelda?" Atticus suggested, "She did catch that group of anti no-maj extremists last month."

"Actually, I was going to propose sending you, Atticus."

He froze, stopping his work to look at his boss in disbelief.

"What? Out of everyone else you could possibly think of sending you decide to go with me? I hate to say this, but what makes you think that's a good idea? I'm a papers guy, Mavis, not a field agent."

"Despite what you might think, I still believe that you're a good fit for the job."

"Please enlighten me on why you think that is then."

He expected her to get angry. Not many employees had the guts to talk back to her like that. Instead though, Mavis' expression softened a tad, with her peach pink lips turned to a frown mixed in with her newfound seriousness.

"Because right now, you're the only one in this place who cares enough to find out the truth."

It was a hard truth to swallow, but the two of them wanted answers. Or at the very least to get a degree of justice to the victim."

"When do I leave?"

"Tomorrow, at noon. " Mavis told him, "So I suggest you start preparing for what's next."

Once Mavis set up a portkey, in the form of a ratty old baseball, for him to use, she gave him just enough time to fix up his desk, something Atticus insisted on doing before leaving. His suitcase was resting on top of his office chair, having been haphazardly packed after getting out of work the day before.

"No one will mess with your papers Atticus." Mavis promised.

"Tell that to Tim. I swear he's too lazy to just ask me for what he needs, so if he comes around while I'm gone just make sure he doesn't take anything, I don't even care if the office is a mess when I get back. If any papers are missing, I swear to-"

"Okay Atticus, I'll talk with him. I need to do so anyway since he keeps taking all the good coffee from the break room."

"I see. What's my main objective when I arrive?"

"There is a run down motel south of area, hidden from no majs'. You'll be staying there for the time being. Send any reports by owl, and we will do the same."

"Understood. How long will I be there?"

"As long as you need to be so we can figure out what's going on."

The auror was too busy double checking that he had everything to notice how quiet the office had gotten, many other staff members have been gone to lunch or other work related engagements. None of them told him goodbye, and only one or two coworkers gave him a passing nod in acknowledgement of his existence. It's not that they didn't like him or that he didn't like them, it was just everyone was too busy to really get to know each other at any great length. It was the kind of work environment that made one very very lonely.

_Wand. _

_Watch. _

_Notebook. _

_Quills_

_Ink. _

_Camera. _

_Clothes. _

He was ready, as best he could be.

Mavis stood across from him, portkey on his now clean desk. Bag in hand, he reached out to the portkey.

"Good luck, Mr. Mill." Mavis said kindly.

"As to you, Miss Mavis."

Then as he grasped the portkey, pulling him away to the forest road he found himself in now.

After Gathering his wits about him, he took a quick look around to gather his surroundings. Then headed south down the autumn colored dirt road.


End file.
